


Dreams on Dapple Grey Stallions

by clgfanfic



Category: Alias Smith and Jones
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-28
Updated: 2012-10-28
Packaged: 2017-11-17 06:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/548556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clgfanfic/pseuds/clgfanfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of the few women who spent time in Devil's Hole.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreams on Dapple Grey Stallions

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published in the zine Just You, Me and the Governor #2 under the pen name Shiloh.

          Jed Curry kissed the soft, upturned lips.  They parted under his, and he felt the familiar tingle Megan created surge through him.  Stepping back, he smiled down at the large blue eyes that watched him with interest.

          "Now, come on, Megan.  You know what that does to me."

          "I know," she said coyly, reaching up to place a hand on his chest, rubbing her fingers gently over his collarbone.

          "We've gotta leave," Curry said, more to convince himself than her.  "We've stayed too long already."

          Megan shrugged knowingly, but the expression on her face said she was unhappy.  "The two of you never stay long enough."

          "I know," he said, equal disappointment ringing in his voice.  "Don't you think I'd _like_ to stay?"  Jed reached out, cupping her chin with his hand.  "Heyes just doesn't feel right about hangin' around a place more than a couple of weeks.  Gives him a real case of itchy feet."

          "I know, Jed," she told him, using the shortened version of his Christian name.

          She watched the handsome blond man as he moved away and began grooming his horse in preparation to leave.  Finally, curiosity got the better of her good sense and she asked, "Jed, why doesn't Hannibal have a girl, too?"

          The outlaw stopped brushing the sorrel for a moment, glancing uncomfortably around the barn. She waited silently and eventually he said in a near whisper, "He did have one, but he lost her a little over a year ago now."

          "Oh, really?" Megan said, trying to imagine the girl who could steal the heart of outlaw Hannibal Heyes.  When she'd first meet the two loveable rogues, it had been Heyes who had drawn her, but he remained distant and aloof from her attentions.  Jed, however, was open and loving.  Megan soon realized that Curry's gentle, caring nature was much better suited to her own than Hannibal's moody silence.  "Tell me about her," she prodded him.

          "She's gone, married," Jed said softly, and Megan realized that whoever the girl was, she had touched both their lives, deeply.  "I guess Heyes' never found anyone who could replace her, or rival her memory.  I guess he will, though, one of these days."

          "She must have been some woman," Megan said, wishing she had had the chance to meet her.

          "That she was," Curry responded, a smile forming on his face as he remembered.  "I'll never forget the first time we saw her.  We were up at Devil's Hole.  Heyes had been runnin' the place for a couple of months, when one day, Kyle…"

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          "Rider comin' in!" Kyle yelled as the sound of a distant gunshot echoed faintly in the still morning air.  A large grey raced by, the rider bent down low along the animal's thick neck, face lost in the flying mane.  Heyes looked up from the stump he was about to turn into firewood, and waited, his mind scanning the list of possible visitors.  He came up blank.  Probably another outlaw on the run who decided to try Devil's Hole instead of facing the law in the foothills, he thought to himself.

          Curry stepped out of the small cabin he shared with Heyes and joined his cousin as the grey entered the small clearing that was ringed by several small buildings.

          The rider pulled the animal up with a light tug on the hand braided reins and the large stallion slid to an abrupt stop, sending rocks and debris flying.  Heyes and Curry raised their arms to cover their faces.

          "Damn fool," Heyes said under his breath as the animal pranced while he and the Kid brushed dust and leaves off themselves.  "What's the rush?" Heyes asked the rider, whose wide brimmed hat obscured his identity.

          "No rush," came the voice of the rider, a decidedly feminine voice, playful.  "Shad just loves to run."

          Heyes' mouth dropped open.  Women were not allowed in Devil's Hole.  The new leader at the infamous hideaway had lost two good men in a fight over a Creole girl his first week running the gang and promptly forbade his men to bring women into the hideout.  Of course, no woman had ever just ridden into the Hole either – until now.  _I don't believe this_ , the young outlaw thought.  _There she is, sitting on a half-wild stallion like she was born there, in the middle of an outlaw camp, telling me—_

          Curry elbowed his cousin in the ribs, and Heyes closed his mouth.  "If you don't mind my asking," the blond man said, "just what exactly are you doing here?"

          The girl swung her right leg over the stallion's neck and slid silently to the ground.  The Colt revolver she wore tied down on her leg was the first thing to catch Heyes' attention.  The second was the knife hilt showing from the top of her boot.  Reaching up, she removed the large hat and Hannibal forgot the gun and the knife, lost in the cinnamon shade of her eyes and the wild mass of black hair that framed her finely chiseled face.

          She walked up to him, at least two years his younger, and stuck out her hand.  Hannibal took it.  He noted the strong grip, yet her hands were still amazingly soft and smooth.  "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Heyes," she said, her voice low and husky.  "My name's Lorin Cooper."

          The Kid folded his arms across his chest and watched with delight as his cousin stood, apparently at a loss for words _.  First time that's ever happened!_ Curry said to himself, his grin widening.

          She smiled at Heyes' expression.  It was a beautiful, open smile that hinted at the personality that might lay behind those oddly colored eyes.

          Heyes took possession himself again and, releasing her hand, tried to tell himself that the burning sensation that remained was just his imagination.  "You know me?"

          "We've never been formally introduced," she said with a grin.  "But there aren't many in Wyoming who haven't heard of Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry, especially the last couple of months."

          "And what makes you think we're Heyes and Curry?"

          "Because this _is_ the famous Devil's Hole, or should I say infamous?" she asked, her smile broadening.  "And Heyes and Curry run Devil's Hole, and the Devil's Hole Gang, now.  And, well, you look like you're in charge."

          "Do you also know that we don't allow women in here?" Curry asked, since it appeared that Heyes wasn't going to.

          "Yes, I know," she said, her tone revealing she wasn't pleased with that particular state of affairs.  "I wouldn't have come if it wasn't important."

          Heyes contemplated the odds, decided to call, and settled in to wait and see what developed.  "All right, Miss Cooper, would you like to tell us exactly why you did come, and how you found the way in?"

          She shifted her weight, and sighed.  "I'm looking for my brother, Mark Cooper, but he goes by the moniker of Denver."

          Recognition crossed both of their faces, and Heyes nodded.  "He was here, but he left about three weeks ago."

          She cast her gaze on the ground, muttering some inventive curses under her breath, then looked back at Heyes, a lady once more – the shift amazed him.  "Mark told me all about Devil's Hole, and the two of you.  This was the last place he mentioned in his letters, so I figured I'd come here first to try and find him.  I was in a hurry.  I've had bounty hunters on my trail for the last three days.  They were hoping I'll lead them to Mark, I'm sure of it.  I lost them yesterday, about sunset, and then doubled back this way."

          "You've been riding all night?" Curry asked skeptically.

          "Yes, and I'd like to get Shad brushed down and fed.  If I can impose?"

          "Lobo!" Heyes called and the man walked up from where he'd been watching. "Take care of the lady's stallion."

          "Sure thing, Heyes," he said, enjoying the scene as much as the Kid.

          "Why don't you come inside and we'll get you something to eat.  I'd like to hear more about these bounty hunters, and what could be so important that it would force you out here," Heyes said, motioning toward the cabin.

          She smiled, and headed for the small wooden structure.

          The two outlaws stood, arms folded across their chests, admiring the confident yet alluring walk.

          "I think she likes me," Curry said, and watched the shadows form on his cousin's face.  They hadn't quarreled over a girl since they placed Clementine Hale off limits – much to her displeasure – and he couldn't pass up the opportunity to harass his older cousin.

          "I don't know, Kid," Heyes told him, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, suggesting he realized Curry's motives.  "I think we ought to flip for this one."

          "Oh no, no thanks, Heyes," Curry said, acknowledging defeat and slapping him on the back.  "Besides, she's already called it.  Good luck!"

          Heyes followed Curry into the cabin, contemplating revenge as the meaning of the words sunk in.  _Already called it, huh?  Well, Kid, I only hope you're right!_

          They stepped inside the small, comfortable room that served as a parlor and Heyes took Lorin's hat and poncho, laying them on the arm of the leather couch that dominated one wall in the room.  The cousins always wondered how Big Jim Santana had gotten the thing up to Devil's Hole, but then, Big Jim was always doing the unexpected.

          The leather riding pants Lorin wore hugged her firm thighs and hips, and Hannibal blushed when he realized he was staring.  The blush grew deeper as his gaze climbed the lithe frame in appreciation, only to find her strangely colored eyes engaged in a similar exercise.

          "Do you know where Mark was headed?" she asked, turning away so Heyes wouldn't see the smile on her face.

          Curry saw it, though, and he grinned.  _I think ol' Hannibal Heyes has finally met his match!_ he thought, sitting down on of the chairs across from the couch to watch the show.

          "No, he didn't say," was the level response from the dark-haired man.  "Please, sit down.  What's so important you'd come up here to find him?"

          After she took a seat on the couch, Heyes headed for another chair nearby, not trusting himself to sit next to her.  He wanted to reach out and pull her to him, wrapping his fingers in the richness of her hair and test the promise of the dusky lips.

          "The story is a little long, so let me start back a ways and explain," she told them, and they nodded.  "Mark's and my mother died about twelve years ago.  Our pa remarried.  Elizabeth was a real good mother to me and Mark, and she and Pa had five more kids.  About a month ago Abbey, she was the youngest, took sick with fever and died.  Elizabeth, Pa and the rest of the kids caught the fever, too.  Pa and Elizabeth died.  Pa left the farm to Mark in his will, since he was the oldest.  I couldn't get Mark's signature on the deed to sell the farm, since he's wanted by the law.  That meant I was the heir, and I sold out.  I'm moving the kids to Laramie with me."

          "Farm's a good place to grow up," Curry said.

          "I know, but I couldn't run the place alone, and the kids are too young.  Mark's not going to be able to help.  If he was to come around, we'd have bounty hunters sooner or later, and that's too dangerous for the little ones.  If I didn't sell, I'd have lost the place to the bank anyway, when I couldn't pay on the loans Pa had.

          "You see, Mark doesn't know about the family yet.  I was hoping he'd be here and I could break the news to him myself.  Whatever he is, Mark's a good man when it comes to family, and he deserves better than hearing about it from a stranger, or stopping by and finding strangers there.  I have a little money left over from the sale, and I want to give it to him.  It's enough to get him to Mexico, or Canada, and maybe he can start over.  He's a good man.  Mark only turned to outlawin' to help the rest of us."

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          They laid the questions aside long enough to share a small dinner.  Heyes relinquished his bedroom to Lorin.  It was obvious she was tired, so he held the questions he still had and suggested that they turn in.

          Lorin readily accepted, giving Hannibal a knowing, thankful smile.  "I appreciate all you've done."

          "Good-night.  Get some rest.  We'll talk about the bounty hunters in the morning."

          She wrinkled her nose at the thought of that topic of conversation over breakfast and the outlaws laughed, understanding the feeling all too well.

          She disappeared into the small bedroom, closing the door behind her.

          Hannibal turned to his cousin.  "Well, what d'ya think?"

          "I think she's tellin' the truth," Curry told him as he rose and headed for the second bedroom, Heyes following.  "Got any ideas 'bout how we're goin' to find Denver?"

          "I was thinkin' about sending Wheat and Lobo out to ask around.  See what the news is."

          "What are we going to do with her in the meantime?"

          Heyes smiled.  "I guess we'll just have to be gentlemen and let her stay.  I mean, we can't throw her out with bounty hunters lurking about, and _we_ certainly don't want to ride _deep_ into Wyoming to deliver whatever news the boys find, so, I guess we'll just have to make the best of it."

          "I don't know, Heyes," the blond outlaw said, worried as usual.  "It don't seem quite right, after you made the rule about no women and all."

          "I know.  I think we're goin' to have to do a little creative story telling."

          "You mean lie."

          "Now, Kid, I wouldn't out-and-out _lie_ to my own men, but circumstances are very delicate here.  We'll tell them who she is, and why she's here, and then we'll add a little spice and say she's wanted."

          "Wanted?"

          "Well she is, isn't she?  There _are_ bounty hunters out there looking for her, aren't there?" Heyes asked as he removed his clothes down to his long john's and climbed into bed.

          Curry raised an eyebrow, seeing numerous loopholes in the story, then followed suit, climbing in after him.  "The way she wears that gun, they might just believe it."

          "The way she wears that gun, I'd like to know just what it is she does in Laramie."

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          While they sat at breakfast Lorin described her escape from the bounty hunters that had been hounding her.  Heyes and Curry were both impressed by her quick thinking and calm handling of a difficult situation they had found themselves in, more than once.

          The Kid, worried that the hunters might be able to follow any tracks she might have left, rode out afterward to check with Kyle and Hognose.  The secrecy of the convoluted entrance to Devil's Hole was something they all wanted to remain intact.

          While they were gone, Heyes called a general meeting in the clearing, and explained the situation.  The inhabitants of Devil's Hole were more than ready to believe the story Hannibal spun regarding Lorin.  The fact that she went on to outdraw several of them helped create an atmosphere of credibility.

          Heyes dispatched Wheat and Lobo to scour the area and see if they could come up with a lead on Denver.  The pair weren't happy about leaving the presence of the lovely young woman, but a dark glance and a growl from Heyes was enough to send them on their way.

          After a lunch that she prepared, Lorin asked if it would be possible to take a bath.  Curry nearly choked when his cousin said, of course she could, and it wouldn't be any problem at all.

          Pulling him aside Curry asked, "Where are we going to get a tub?  Or do you expect her to break ice on the stream?"

          "Kid, you've got no faith.  Big Jim had a barrel that was all fixed up to be a tub."

          "Where is it?  I don't remember seeing anything like that."

          "We've been playin' poker on it," Heyes told him, smiling as recognition set in.

          Curry laughed, recalling the table in the gang's bunkhouse that had seen so many late night games.

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          Heyes and Curry stood guard outside the door to the bunkhouse, the gang chased out so Lorin could bathe in privacy.  Heyes shook his head, telling his cousin, "I've never seen anything like it.  She's damn near as fast as I am with a gun, she's as good at cards as you are – maybe better – and she can handle a knife… probably out ride both of us, too I don't get it.  I mentioned Shakespeare and she started quoting, then that grey of hers stepped on her foot and I heard cusses _I've_ never heard before.  She's just damned amazing."

          "You won't get an argument from me," Curry said, listening to the splashing bath water.

          "Ah, Hannibal?" Lorin's voice drifted out from behind the closed door.

          "Yeah?"

          "Come in a minute, will you?"

          The outlaws exchanged glances, the blond man enjoying the near panicked look that had developed on his cousin's face.  Heyes swallowed hard and gripped the doorknob.  Sighing, he opened the door and stepped in.

          Lorin sat in the barrel, up to her neck in hot water and suds.  Her long hair was piled up on top of her head, held in place with two mother-of-pearl combs, setting off the blackness of her hair and her strange eyes.  She smiled at his discomfort and asked, "Will you wash my back for me?"

          Heyes stood just inside the door, staring at the beauty in the tub.  "Huh?" was the only thing he could say.

          "Will you wash my back?" she repeated, trying not to laugh.

          He came forward and she handed him the bar of soap.  Rolling up his sleeves, Heyes worked up some lather, then began to rub her back in circles as she leaned forward in the barrel.

          Keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the ceiling as he continued, he couldn't help but admire the soft skin under his touch.

          She sighed saying, "That feels wonderful."  Her voice dropped to a whisper and she continued, "I think I might need your help."

          Confused, Hannibal looked down as she turned to him.  "I don't understand," he said.

          "I have a couple of admirers," she whispered with a smile, then indicated a corner of the room with a glance.

          Heyes casually stole a look in that direction and spotted the warped brim of Kyle's hat.  He sighed, anger flashing in his eyes.

          "Don't get too mad at them," she told him, noting the look.  "They probably don't get much female companionship up here."

          "That's true enough," Heyes told her.  "But that's no excuse."

          "They somehow managed to spirit away my towel, so if you'll hand me another when you're through, I'll save what's left of my virtue."

          Heyes handed back the soap and rinsed off his hands.  He stalked over to the corner of the room and shoved one arm up, over his head.  The missing towel dropped through the hole in the ceiling.  Taking the retrieved cloth, he walked back to Lorin and held it up for her, effectively cutting her off from the intruding views, but not his own.

          She raised an eyebrow, but stood and allowed him to wrap the towel around her.  A series of groans echoed from the roof.

          "Get down here!  Pronto!" Heyes yelled at them.  Without looking back at Lorin, he strode from the room.

          "What's wrong?" Curry asked as the three men approached the door to the cabin as Heyes burst through.

          "Lorin had a few… observers," Heyes growled.

          Curry watched, unsure why the anger burned so fiercely in his cousin's eyes.

          "That will not happen again," Heyes stated with finality, and the three nodded.  "Now, get outta here.  I'm sure you've got something else to do."

          The three turned and left, muttering to themselves.

          "Heyes," Curry said, "it was just in fun, you know that."

          "I know," he responded, "but I don't like it.  I'll apologize once I get over this mad, and won't say something I'll regret."  He looked down at his own dusty clothes, and then over at the blond who was in a similar condition, adding, "After we've both had baths."

          Curry closed his eyes and sighed.

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          "Two weeks or so went by without a word from Wheat or Lobo.  The men up at the Hole realized – with a little help from me – that Lorin was off-limits.  When she was with them…"  Curry trailed off, trying to find the words to explain the woman to Megan.  "…well, she fit in so easy as one of the gang, it didn't take long for them to think of her that way.

          "Heyes…  Well, he was a different story.  He was in a constant state of confusion.  Every time he thought he had her figured out, something would happen to change the picture.

          "Lorin made sure that she spent time with all of us, helping with chores, playing poker, or just joking around after dinner.  She did it to keep us all happy."

          Curry paused, remembering when Clementine had done much the same around he and Heyes, but, unlike Clementine, Lorin had clearly made up her mind who she was after.

          "I didn't know if Heyes knew it, but Lorin had set her sights on him and was slowly reeling him in.  I kept thinkin' that I should tell him a woman was as close to jail as getting caught was, but I liked her too much himself.

          "I guess I finally figured she'd just start riding with us.  Hell, that looked better than the, huh, domestic pictures I kept trying to force Heyes into – without much success, I might add.  'Ought to ask her to ride with us,' I told Heyes one day…"

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          "Are you crazy, Kid?  She might know how to shoot, but there'd be people shootin' at her then."

          "Well, you can't get married and settle down, can you?"

          "No," Heyes admitted.  "I don't know what's going to happen.  She hasn't said anything about staying.  I mean, she can't.  She has to go back to Laramie and take care of her brothers and sisters.  I can't stay in town, or on a farm, with a reward on my head.  That would be worse than Denver being there.  Besides, we're just friends."

          "Sure, Heyes."

          "Really.  Nothin's happened between us, and, to tell you the truth, I don't think it will.  She knows who and what I am, and she's not crazy enough to get tied up with someone who probably won't live to see thirty."

          "I don't know, Heyes.  I think she knows, and she'll find her own way around it."

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          "So, three weeks passed and Lorin, was just one of the gang.  She was involved in all the activities up at the Hole, including our plans to rob the Lakeville bank.  I ended up looking at her like a replacement for my sister, Rachael.

          "Rachel was killed along with our folks when the border raiders came.  Heyes, on the other hand, just grew more and more attracted to her.  He fought the feelings, but they wouldn't go away, in fact, they just kept growing stronger," Curry continued while he tossed the saddle on the sorrel's back.

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          "All right," Heyes told the gathered men, "now, you all know what we're goin' to do, and when you have to do it.  If any of you mess up, it's gonna be me and the Kid here who gets caught, so be careful, will ya?"

          The men all nodded, and Lorin, who sat on one of the bunks, smiled at the way he was able to manipulate the sometimes bumbling outlaws and make them work as a well organized team.

          The sound of a faint gunshot could be heard, followed by the cry of, "Rider, comin' in!"

          Heyes and Curry looked at each other, both suspecting that it was Wheat and Lobo.  Lorin stood and followed the men outside.

          They were right.

          The pair trotted into the clearing and dismounted.  Wheat stood, looking at his boots while Lobo took the horses and headed for the barn.

          "Well?" Heyes asked.

          Wheat muttered quietly, "I think we'd better go inside."

          Heyes and Curry exchanged concerned looks, and followed Wheat into the bunk house.

          "So, what do you have to tell us in here you couldn't say out there?" Hannibal questioned.

          "It's Denver.  He's dead," Wheat said solemnly.

          "Dead?" Curry asked.

          "Yep.  The sheriff over in Three Forks killed him a week ago – caught him tryin' to hold up the freight office, in broad daylight."

          Heyes half laughed-half snorted at the news.  "He didn't seem that stupid."

          "Brains must not run in the family.  What are we going to tell Lorin?" Curry asked his cousin.

          "We tell her the truth – that Mark's dead, and she can get verification from the sheriff in Three Forks.  Let's not tell her how he died, though.  If the sheriff mentions it, and I doubt he will, that's fine," Heyes told the two.

          They nodded.

          Walking back outside Heyes found Lorin gone.  "Where'd she go?" he asked Lobo and Kyle, who were sitting by the bunk house, talking.

          "Took the grey and headed toward the river," Kyle told him.  "She leavin' now?"

          "Why, Kyle, she botherin' you?" Heyes snapped, instantly regretting it.

          "Naw, Heyes," he said quietly.  "I was just wonderin' if we were goin' to be stuck with you and the Kid's cookin' again, that's all."

          "Sorry, Kyle," Heyes said, and patted the young man on the shoulder.  "I just don't look forward to breakin' the bad news, that's all."

          "I can purely understand that," Kyle said, and he meant it.

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          "Where did she go?" Megan asked, caught up in the tale.

          "I don't know, Heyes never said.  He rode out after her, and he came back alone.  I never saw Lorin again.  We pulled the Lakesville job, and it took us close to three weeks to lose the posse, and another two to get back to the Hole.  Heyes was like a walkin' dead man…"

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          "Damn it, Heyes, would you either go see her, or forget about her," Curry said as he watched his cousin pacing in the cabin.

          Heyes paused from his aimless wandering long enough to give the blond outlaw a scowl.  "I don't know what you're talkin' about."

          "I'm takin' about you, wearing a hole through the floorboards if you keep this up much longer."

          Heyes stopped a second time, studied the worried expression on his cousin's face and stalked over to the couch and collapsed.  "Kid, I don't know what I'm going to do.  I can't sleep without dreamin' about her.  I can't plan jobs, because I can't stop thinking about her…"  He sighed, ran his fingers through his dark brown hair, and sat forward on the edge of the worn leather.  "I can't marry her, I'm wanted.  She can't ride with us; she's got the kids to look after."

          Curry thought about that for a minute, then ventured the idea he had been keeping to himself for several days.  "What if she and the kids lived up here?"

          "Ah, Kid, I thought about that, but what kind of life is that for a bunch of kids?  Besides, if the law ever did get into this place, Lorin would go to jail for aiding and abetting, and the kids would end up in some orphanage, like we did, and you know that ain't no life for a kid."

          Curry frowned, realizing Heyes was right.  "Well, can't you sneak down and see her, at least, ask her what she wants to do?"

          "I already know what she wants," Heyes said solemnly.

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          "Well?" Megan asked, watching Curry tie his bedroll behind his saddle.  "I swear, it's like pullin' teeth."

          Curry patted the gelding's neck.  "I watched Heyes just sort of dyin' inside.  I got scared.  I didn't know what was going to happen."

          "Did he ever go see her?"

          "Yeah.  After a week of watchin' him, I told him he was going to go talk to her, or I was riding out."

          "What happened?"

          "We rode into Laramie late one night.  Heyes seemed to know where he was goin'…"

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          "You wait here," Heyes directed his cousin.

          Curry looked out past the small rise to the large ranch house that sat in the distance, the lights shining brightly in the quiet darkness.  "She lives there?"

          "That's what they told me in town."

          Curry whistled softly in the darkness.  Heyes smiled thinly and reined his mount toward the house, kicking him into a slow lope.

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          "Well, don't stop," Megan scolded.

          "That's all I can tell you.  I don't know what happened."

          "Jed Curry, you're doing this on purpose."

          "No, he's not."  It was Heyes.

          The pair turned and watched him walk into the barn, pulling his black gloves off as he did.

          "Heyes, I'm sorry, I—"

          "That's okay, Kid.  I should've told you about it back then, but I couldn't.  I wanted to put it behind me."

          "What did happen?" Megan asked, unwilling to be left hanging.

          Heyes, studied the floor of the barn for a moment, then walked over and took a seat on a bale of hay.  "Well…"

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          Heyes tied the bay to the hitching pole and strode up to the front door, knocking on the thick wood.  An older woman answered.  "Can I help you, son?" she asked, eyeing the disheveled young man.

          "Miss Lorin Cooper, please."

          "Won't you come in?"

          Heyes stepped into the entry hall and glanced around at the wealth that greeted him.

          "Wait here and I'll see if Miss Cooper is accepting visitors."

          The outlaw watched the woman move off, shifting uncomfortably.  A few minutes later, Lorin swept into the hallway, and the pale green dress she wore set off her eyes.  Heyes felt himself falling into their depths.

          "Hannibal," she said softly, taking him by the arm and guiding him into a small study off the hall.  "What are you doing here?"

          "I had to see you.  I had to know if this was really what you wanted."

          She turned away from the dark eyes that studied her.  "I don't have a choice, you know that.  You told me so yourself.  I have three children to raise, and I don't want to do it alone."  She faced him again, her eyes begging him to change the situation.  "I need someone who can help me, who'll be at my side.  I watched Mark throw his life away, all because he thought outlawing was a game.  You're no different.  It's all still a game to you, too – a challenge, fun.  Death isn't real for you yet.  But it's real for me, Hannibal, too real.  I can't wait, worrying about you and wondering if you're safe, if the job went right, if the posse caught you."

          "I told you I'd give it up."

          "You said the words," she said, going to him.  "But you're eyes tell me different.  I know you can't.  It in your blood, like a fever, and it's going to be a long while before you burn it out."

          "And what about you, Lorin, some of that fever burns in your blood – I know. You won't be happy in dresses and a fancy house.  You need the feel of the grey, runnin' under you.  You need the danger, too."

          "I know.  I never told anyone else about ridin' with Mark.  No one knew his sometimes-partner was a woman, and I'll admit… it _was_ exciting.  But Pa and Elizabeth needed the money, needed it so badly we didn't have a choice, Hannibal.  I learned it wasn't worth the risk, Mark didn't, and he's dead.  I have a chance here to make a good life for my kin, and I have to take it.  If you can look me in the eye and tell me you'll go straight, and really mean it, I'll leave.  I go to California with you, or wherever, but I won't go back to that way of life."

          Heyes knew she was right, he couldn't give it up, he didn't want to.  "I love you."

          "I know."

          "I'll be leavin'."

          "Hannibal, I'm going to get married in a few days.  I'll pray for you.  Maybe someday I'll be able to help you, somehow."

          "Be happy, Lorin."

          "I'll try."

          Heyes left her in the study, walking past the old woman to the door.  She watched him leave, wondering who he was.

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          "She was an outlaw, then?"

          "No, she wasn't wanted, but she did help Denver on a few jobs before he joined up with us."

          "Who did she marry?"

          Curry and Heyes exchanged smiles.

          "The son of a very important man," the Kid said.

          Heyes stood and walked over to his horse as the Kid finished tightening the chinch.  "She married Thomas Warren, son of the governor of Wyoming."

          "Oh my," Megan breathed.  "Did he know about her?"

          "No, no one but I did, as far as I know," Heyes said.  "I suppose she's happy. I hope so.  Maybe one day I'll pay her a visit.  One day when this fever's gone."  He looked over at his cousin.  "You ready?"

          "Yeah."

          The pair swung into their saddles.  "We'll be back," Heyes told Megan as she watched them.

          "Take care of yourself," Curry said after he leaned over and kissed her forehead.

          "You two be careful.  I want to see you again."

          They nodded, reined the horses toward the west and kicked them into gallops.


End file.
